The annual Canadian harp seal hunt begins this week, as always, amid controversy. In 2007, poor ice conditions in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence resulted in the drowning of some 250,000 seal pups and prevented hunters from killing more than about 215,000 of the animals, despite the Canadian government’s “total allowable catch” of 270,000. This year, more-extensive ice cover and a total allowable catch of 275,000 mean that probably many more than 215,000 seals will be killed.

As the controversial hunt begins again, we provide a link to a previous post about the hunt. The comments to the linked post below continue to grow … please add your thoughts.